The team too embarrassed to look at the league table

As Ryan Giggs took the applause of the Stretford End following Saturday’s victory over Norwich City there was a real sense that Manchester United had at last rediscovered their identity.

But, however, positive that may feel to United’s relieved supporters, it doesn’t mean the pain of a nightmare season has subsided — or that the underlying problems that caused it have been miraculously solved.

The idea that David Moyes’ departure on its own is enough to make United title contenders next year — having fallen so far short this season — is too fanciful to consider; even if Giggs himself has insisted the squad is good enough, exactly as it is, to challenge Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in future.